Brad Durham

Long Dream

Within Light

From Higher and Closer

Winter Song

Voice

Memory of Silence

Notion

I call the colored markings on my paintings “memories”.

The origins of these colorations started in the late nineties. I began to notice an issue that faces many artists as their work becomes more about craft than the passion that originally drove them. In 1998 I did a residency at AUROBORA PRESS in San Francisco, CA. With their master printer, I did things that, archivally speaking, should not be done, but beautiful works were created within these “mistakes”. I learned not to fix things but rather allow the voice of the “mistakes” to show – and that this process is important to as it held the intimate and honest narrative within the work. This honesty I treasure in life. Whether in my work or in my personal relationships, I attempt to acknowledge and embrace the paths, the imperfections, the mistakes, pains and efforts necessary to create something beautiful. Within my paintings I consciously began to leave the smudges and marks that naturally occurred as evidences of the paths taken, I no longer strove for “perfect” works, rather I wanted to present slices of history and time.

By 2005 my landscapes had become softer and more intimate. My focus turned to memories and how truths are held. Each of us holds our identities close. We secure ourselves within structures. I see the marks as emotional memories that never connected – they exist to challenge and inform our perceptions of self.